Game on Dude tops San Antonio

Following an outstanding season that included victories in the Grade 1 Santa

Anita Handicap and Grade 1 Goodwood Stakes, Game on Dude will open his 2012

campaign in Sunday's $200,000

San Antonio Stakes

at Santa Anita. The classy

gelding looms as an overwhelming favorite among seven rivals in the 1 1/8-mile

event.

Trained by Bob Baffert, Game on Dude had the opportunity to stake a major

claim for Horse of the Year honors with a victory in the Breeders' Cup Classic

and recorded an excellent performance in the 1 1/4-mile event at Churchill

Downs, repulsing all challenges on the front end before giving way late to the

winning Drosselmeyer. However, the runner-up effort left him out in the cold for

the Eclipse Awards as the five-year-old finished second in the voting for

champion older male to Acclamation. The son of Awesome Again will look to make

amends in 2012. He is three for three over over the dirt track in Arcadia, California,

and will

have this year's Breeders' Cup Classic in his backyard at Santa Anita.

Chantal

Sutherland returns to the saddle Sunday and Game on Dude will be using the Grade

2 San

Antonio as a prep for either a title defense in the March 3 Big 'Cap or a trip

to the Middle East for the $10 million Dubai World Cup on March 31.

Uh Oh Bango and Tres Borrachos, the respective one-two finishers from the

Grade 2 San Pasqual Stakes on January 7, will both be back for the San Antonio.

Uh Oh Bango scored a minor upset when posting a 1 3/4-length score in the 1

1/16-mile event, registering a career-best 104 BRIS Speed rating in the process,

and brings a commendable 4-1-1-2 mark over the track into the San Antonio. Mike

Smith rides for Kory Owens.

Tres Borrachos captured the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap last summer and

finished third in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile when making his penultimate start

in 2011. Conditioner by Marty Jones, the seven-year-old gelding will break from

the rail with Rafael Bejarano.

Victory Pete, Ashtar, El Gato Malo and Skipshot complete the field.